Some photos taken over Animelo weekend

Ikebukuro. This will be home for the duration of the trip to Japan.

There is lots to see and do. But since this is a Momoist/otaku blog, let's just skip all the other touristy stuff I did and get to the substance...

animate! 9 floors of stuff. Took a good 4-5 hours to look through it all.

k-books (lots of good used stuff and comiket items)

Only bought a few things...spent conservatively since if I want to waste money on things that should never see the light of day, there was still all of Akihabara and Nakano Broadway.

Spotted while heading toward Animelo on 8/30.

Was so excited to be walking toward Saitama Super Arena

The Arena.

Merchandise tables. Combo sets and wristbands were sold out unfortunately by the time I got there. Picked up 2 shirts, towels, and pamphlet.

Outside map. Momoists set up camp in the marked area the next day.

Crowd began to swell as time got closer.

Had a blast at the concert. Jaw dropped when trying to find the number marked on the ticket and then the realization they were direct stage-side seats. Damn this thing was long. A great time was had, but I learned my lesson this time. 2 ultra oranges, 2 pinks, and 2 neon sticks is NOT ENOUGH. Wanted to UO on so many good acts but blew my entire stash right out the door with Yukari.

Goods obtained from the concert. Managed to catch a streamer that got shot out of the cannon during the encore. Since the thing was right next to me, when it went off I thought something exploded and nearly ducked for cover.

8/31

Posing with another Momoist.

Huge group of Momoists hanging out in the lower food court while waiting for seating to open. It was the same reliable group that has been to every concert I've ever seen so far. They came from all over. Some big trips to see Momoi include travellers from Osaka, Aomori (8 hrs by train), and even Korea.

T-shirt present for Momoi. Everybody included their own personal message. Takayama Saki (actress of Momoi from Haruko Update) was also attending Animelo to support Momoi and showed up to sign the shirt and say hello to Momoists.

These seats were actually pretty good and you could get a clear view of the performers as well as the entire arena. The "not as lucky" comparison is only relative to day 1, but otherwise it was awesome.

Lesson learned from day 1: stock glowsticks!!! Used up 15 ultra oranges, 6 ultra pinks, 2 ultra greens, 4 red and blue glowing bracelets, and fully drained 6 AAA batteries for neon red and neon blue light sticks.

Picked up 2 MOSAIC.WAV shirts along the way.

Still in Japan right now this is concise to save time. If you want to see parts of day 2 including Momoi you can probably find some recorded segments on Nico or Youtube although I won't bother posting the links since they will be constantly deleted/reuploaded. Also consider visiting seiyuu3 for a more detailed description of other artist acts.

Visited Akiba and a few other famous Momoi spots and specific stores/buildings thanks to a local fan who took a full day off to play ad-hoc tour guide. Maybe will visit more Momoists in Kyoto and we have a Suara concert to go see on Saturday. Let's see how it goes.

Posted by Paranda at 11:35 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Spring 2007 Anime, part 3

Pass:

Seto no Hanayome - A Momoi show that is pretty good. Momoi is pretty much in every scene, and heavily featured as both a character and as a musician (presence detected from OP to BGM). Yakuza comedies have been overdone for me, but characters like "Shark" actually being a shark and other simple gags are just incredibly funny to me. Not as funny as Nagasarete, but Momoi more than makes up for it.

Toward the Terra - Simply awesome. Post-apocalyptic utopia with a terrible catch? No matter how many times I've seen that formula, it never gets old. This show is filled with amazing imagery, awesome revelations, firefights, and suspense. The mood and themes are just right, and it manages to provide entertainment without being too preachy about its social theories. The protagonist is a bit angsty, but thanks to the great pacing of this show, he pretty much gets over his requisite "woe is me" phase in just one episode. A LOT HAPPENS in every single episode of this show, and it might tie up Claymore as my favorite series this season.

Heroic Age - PASS PASS PASS PASS PASS!!! Apotheosis now! Basic premise: The Heroic Tribe is basically a god race that owned the universe before they got annihilated by a higher power for being way too strong. The last remaining survivors were sealed into stones and made subserviant to the weaker races in the universe. Humans, initially the weakest race (having lost their home planet to other humanoid aliens known as the Silver tribe), received the strongest strongest servant, and under an extreme galactic version of manifest destiny codified as the Twelve Labors, are now on a mission to take back their home and destroy all other races. Drama, betrayal, politics! It's StarCraft, EV Nova, and mythology mixed together. Bronze tribe is clearly derived from the Kryptos ships. Also, KUGIMIYA RIE.

Kaze no Stigma - 2 episodes in. Bad-ass main character who can kill the shit out of everything after a mere 4 years of contracts/training. Everything is cool so far. So how does an insanely strong wind mage escape his annoying pursuer? Slice a hotel in half and drop the entire top half onto her (actually he was framed for this, but still...).

Shining Tears X Wind - Moved from undecided to pass because the pacing is quite good. The story seems kind of standard, but it moves pretty quickly. Also, machine-gun sword is hilarious.

Bokurano
sola
Hayate no Gotoku!
Idolmaster Xenoglossia
Claymore
Nanoha StrikerS
Nagasarete Airantou

Undecided:
Hitohira

Dropped:
Kamichama Karin
Lucky Star

Pending:
Victorian Romance Emma season 2

Posted by Paranda at 8:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Spring 2007 Anime, part 2

Pass:

Bokurano - The first thing I like about Bokurano: The OP. Second thing; Introductory monologue. Third thing: a huge cast of characters from varied family backgrounds, and serious analysis of motivations and social views. Hmm...so 3 things I like within 5 minutes of the show starting. And knowing this will turn out as some messed up Ender's Game/Lord Of The Flies thing later? Yeah I'll watch this. No doubt.

sola - I think I liked this show just from watching the first five minutes, where basically a guy bikes around in the dark accompanied by soft vocals and piano. I was kind of disappointed afterwards when I learned this wasn't going to be another ARIA, but after two episodes, I decided to stick with it anyway. The overall premise at least seems mildly interesting, even if I am not too fond of the characters (they are horribly unoriginal, and not in an ironic way). But, I do like the style and pacing so far, plus the cast is good enough to warrant a longer look. I'm not a huge Noto fanboy though - I admire her ability, but don't think she was the right voice for this character.

Hayate no Gotoku! - This turned out to be pretty funny after all. Moved from Undecided to Pass
Idolmaster Xenoglossia - Nothing spectacular but it has managed to hold my interest enough to get a pass.

Claymore - This couldn't possibly get any better. Still favorite show this season.
Nanoha StrikerS - Needs more violence!
Nagasarete Airantou - This is secretly Looney Tunes, but with anime girls.

Undecided:

Hitohira - Overall I enjoyed it. The setup is pretty nice: a girl with severe social anxiety is coerced by a bunch of upperclassmen into a drama club, and now she must confront her debilitating stage fright. The various characters are also fun, so I'll probably be watching this series all the way through. It's a good chance to see what a fresh name like Orie can do, plus I haven't heard Hikami Kyoko do anything in a long time.

Shining Tears X Wind - First impressions are not too good. Nothing in the first episode made any sense, and the characters aren't likeable at all. This show is an example of how not to make an anime based on RPG. Aside from Tony designs, and some famous voices, there's no reason to watch this. Unfortunately for this show, all my favorite seiyuu are already present in other shows this season so I already have my fix. If the next episode doesn't improve, this is dropped.

Dropped:

Kamichama Karin - Second dropped series of the season. Well I gave Kamichama Karin the benefit of the doubt after episode one, but after episode two, I can just safely say this show flat out fucking sucks. The story is shit, the characters are shit, the pacing is shit, the voices are shit. It took two full episodes for Karin to transform into a God, and her ultimate power manifests itself as a dress and a glowing ball that gets shot at a static target. Even Maitan couldn't save this travesty, and Sawashiro's horrible attempts at doing a "cool guy" voice only irritated me further. Koge Donbo is a Harry Potter obsessed no-talent hack and this show destroyed any respect I still had for her left over from early Di Gi Charat 4-koma strips. It makes me ashamed that I even watched one episode of this. This series is on par with crappy fanfiction written by an elementary school girl.

Lucky Star

Pending:
Seto no Hanayome
Kaze no Stigma
Toward the Terra
Heroic Age

Posted by Paranda at 9:08 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Spring 2007 Anime

Time to assess some of this season's new lineup. In order from most favorite to least favorite.

Pass:

Claymore - This fantastic show seems to be my favorite so far. It has everything that I like: big swords, fantasy, demons, and especially superstrong oneechans voiced by Kuwashima Houko.

Nanoha StrikerS - A nice combination of famous seiyuu and what amounts to the techno-magic version of DBZ. Plus it has the coolness quota filled by Fate, cuteness quota filled by Reinforce Zwei.

Nagasarete Airantou - More seiyuu stuff that I need to watch. As for harem series, generally the crazier it gets the better, and this is pretty out there. In general, it is amusing although it abuses nosebleed gags way too much. Those haven't been funny for years, possibly never.

Undecided:

Idolmaster Xenoglossia - Initially I was skeptical about the mecha, but after watching the first half of the episode, I realized that if this had been another typical idol show, I'd have dropped it right away - because the first half was boring as shit. Watching Lovely Idol and Lovegechu caused me to burn out on idol shows, so the added mecha element was probably necessary. Which turned out to be right since the second half was kind of interesting. This also gets the three episode test.

Hayate no Gotoku! - I'm not really into this stuff, but Kugimiya+Shiraishi lead, KOTOKO OP, and a bunch of references force me to keep this in consideration. Will get the three episode test. As much as it pains me to drop a Kugimiya show, I suspect it will not pass, but I MUST HAVE HOPE.

Kamichama Karin - I don't really like the characters (the guy is an ass, and I don't consider his actions at the end enough for redemption unless he fucking apologizes for that cat comment), and I'm also getting bored with Koge's art. But, I like Maitan, and "playing God" series, so I'll watch just one more episode before deciding.

Dropped:

Lucky Star - First dropped show of the season. I enjoyed playing the DS game, but the show just didn't appeal to me. There's too much talking and the cast isn't strong enough to back up watching this for even seiyuu reasons. They should just scrap Lucky Star and make a Lucky Channel spinoff.

Pending (haven't watched, but want to):
Seto no Hanayome
Sola
Bokurano
Toward the Terra
Shining Tears
Hitohira
Kaze no Stigma

Posted by Paranda at 10:43 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Reinforce Zwei

Cute. Yukana is OK in my book.

I love the way she says Zwei.

But...Subaru~~~~

Oh..Saito Chiwa, can I love you any more?

I am not coherent today.

It is because Nanoha Strikers.

The happiness.

Posted by Paranda at 4:44 PM

Lovedol episode 5

Even after looping the OP/ED themes non-stop since they came out, I found I still couldn't resist watching it all for episode 5. What tremendous power. Also, Sakaki is very cute in this episode.

Judging by the background song, this episode looks like it will be centered around the cat-like Miu. Things kick off when Tomohiro announces that Sayuki, one of the talents he used to manage, has given the idols an opportunity to appear in an advertisement for lotion. They all feel this is a good way to gain exposure and head for the filming location, which is a beach.

Why a beach of all places? I think it is now pretty obvious where this episode is headed.

The idols change into swimsuits to shoot the commercial and show off a bit until Ruri steals everyone's attention with a sukumizu. Ruri is definitely the smart one.

The group first watches Sayuki do some solo parts. After the shoot, Tomohiro has a little chat with her and congratulates her on her work. Like every older talent who has appeared in the show so far, during the conversation Sayuki hints an affection for her old manager. Perhaps Tomohiro's grin is one of satisfaction? Alas we know better. When asked by Saiyuki if he has forgotten anything "extra" to say to her, despite all the eye-batting, the deep stare of lust, the anticipation in her breathing, this stupid ass blurts out "Oh yeah, I forgot to say thanks for inviting my idols." Behold the face of a man who has just missed the blatant advances of one of Japan's top models. Saiyuki storms off in disappointment, leaving Tomohiro clueless about what just happened.

Meanwhile, the idols are facing problems of their own. Sakaki doesn't perform well at all under the stare of the camera and crew and trips up under the pressure. It seems she is very uncomfortable with the whole situation.

On the other side of the spectrum, the exciteable Miu, though very good at dancing, gets a little too caught up in the moment. The other girls find it impossible to keep up with Miu, who deviates from the choreographed steps and jumps into her own passionate routine. Things go so wrong that the director cancels the shoot and orders them off.

Tomohiro apologizes but says because they weren't able to coordinate themselves, they will not be able to appear in the commercial after all. Saiyuki will have to shoot the commercial alone.

The idols watch in sadness as the shoot progresses without them. After things wrap up, Saiyuki, probably feeling guilty about taking her anger for Tomohiro's ignorance out on the talent, requests for one last take with them.

The director concedes, and orders her hyperthermia-afflicted assistant to help them get their choreography right. They have one hour to prepare. Highly appreciative of Saiyuki and the director's grace, everyone is determined to do things right this time. Miu notices that Sakaki is acting very awkwardly (but cutely IMO) and confronts her.

Sakaki reveals that although she doesn't have a big problem with singing, she is very shy in front of people when it comes to dancing, especially in a swimsuit. It's something she simply can't do in front of others (hmm then how did she do that in episode 3?). However, Ruri tells her she feels a little shy too, but it's important for everyone to dance together as a single unit, and no matter how embarrased she might be, everyone is supporting her. After receiving some tips on dealing with stage performance, eventually she says she thinks she can overcome this shyness, but there's one more problem. Miu's steps are too difficult for her.

Miu realizes what Sakaki is getting at, plus after seeing what everyone said to Sakaki about group unity, she realizes it was wrong for her to leave her team so far behind while dancing. She apologizes for her actions and promises this time she'll make sure to stay at the pace of the group. The team is able to agree on working together as one functioning unit. Lurking in the back, Tomohiro is satisfied to see they have learned this important lesson and thanks Saiyuki for helping again. For the second time, Saiyuki hints that she would like to hear something else, and for the second time, Tomohiro fails..

Having learned the importance of unity, everyone works hard for their final opportunity. It turns out to be a success.

As they celebrate the last shot of the day and prepare to go home, Saiyuki tries one last time to get Tomohiro to say a certain something. Tomohiro seems to FINALLY catch on that she's fishing for a certain statement out of him, but before he can say anything, he enjoys a faceful of dirt courtesy of Saiyuki's current manager, his older sister. As Saiyuki is herded away, she wonders to herself sadly why he couldn't just call her cute. Oh Tomohiro how many hearts must you break?

A few days later, the girls receive a copy of the advertisement they all worked so hard on. In a deliciously funny twist, after seeing all the effort they put into doing the commercial, they find that after the editing process, they only appear for about two seconds at the end, in the far background behind a bottle. It's a rough world in showbusiness.

Posted by Paranda at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

Lovedol episode 4

Surprise, another update! Instead of doing something useful like study for my midterm, I've decided to do something completely useless like watch Lovely Idol 4 instead. This show is slowly corrupting me. I started watching this thing primarily as a Momoi fan but even though she barely gets any lines, I still find myself glued to this series. After bashing the OP in my episode 1 post, now I'm unable to skip it. I watch through everything start to finish and enjoy it, looped animation and all. It seems every week I am looking forward to the next episode more and more. The further I disparage it the stronger my urge is to watch. Oh what's going on??

And it is: Episode 4 is a Ruri episode! This is good because pending Mai's story arc, the cheerful and clever Ruri has pretty much become my favorite character. As I've mentioned during my Canvas 2 rants, historically I've hated the "oniichan's girl" angle when played up to ridiculous levels, although recently with Maika and Ruri I'm starting to worry if I've been covertly infected by the dreaded siscon (No, it's just the seiyuu. Really!). Anyway, Ruri shows up unannounced during a meeting between Tomohiro and some director. Ruri claims she showed up with an umbrella because the weather forecast predicted rain, but in a clearly calculated move, she only brought a single set so they have to walk together. Tomohiro doesn't react kindly to this of course, because he's a big jerk >:(..

The director invites them to go watch a recording session for a CD drama based on some magical girl show. The offer is further extended when they decide to bring everyone next time for a group learning experience. The group gets very excited about the possibility that they might have a chance to dub some lines. They rehearse the script together for a while. Ruri says she really would love to do the voice for the dog. Everyone thinks she is joking, but Ruri says she believes in the importance of the character and it turns out, she plays the character very well. During the rehearsal everyone is impressed by her "wau wau." Ruri's character song plays in the background during this scene, and Sakai Kanako does a pretty good job of singing the whole thing in Ruri's voice without sounding unnatural.

Yet behind all the laughs, not all is well. There are some hints that Ruri is holding back her ambitions for her brother. Tomohiro, not being completely blind picks up on this, but then proceeds to do nothing about it. The next day, he comes down with a bad cold, clearly karma for being so inconsiderate. But now he can't take the idols to the recording session! What to do?

No matter, Ruri declares herself the manager for the day and takes the group anyway. Big sister manager (I still haven't caught her name) has some harsh words for the sick Tomohiro, but Ruri defends him to the death. The manager says Ruri is still acting childish and the two get into an argument. Friction flares up as the idols take their seats for the recording.

One of the actors Yukimi shows off several moe voice variation while reading the lines. However, the idols notice a bit of a problem: nothing she's saying is on their scripts. It turns out Ruri got the wrong script book. Sufficiently embarassed, Ruri becomes a lot more docile. It seems big sister was right about her. More and more people start to notice Ruri hiding her feelings.

Eventually the idols chance to do some acting comes. They are requested to record the voice for the dog, the one role Ruri really wanted to do. Surprisingly, she refuses saying she must attend to her manager duties. The rest of the idols give lackluster performances, especially Miu (now established by this and the last episode to be the stupid one in the group) who makes a cat sound instead.

Big sister senses decides she needs to take action, so she decides to drill her with a bit of tough love. Much insulting later, Ruri decides she's going to try out after all. Looks like big sis was looking out for her best interests after all. Immediately after, Tomohiro rushes to the door, only to get leg barred for having such horrible timing.

The recording is a success. Everyone is stunned by Ruri's perfect sound effect and she gets cheers all around. At the end of the day, Tomohiro shows that despite his incompetence in all areas, he retains the uncanny ability to make his former idols really really like him. Just like the idol we saw in episode 2, this girl really cares about him too. Yukimi here was waiting for him to show up the whole time, and she does a cute routine with the stuffed doll asking him not to forget about her.

After this, Ruri and Tomohiro go home together. Ruri announces she will no longer aim to be a manager and that she will follow her desires to be an idol instead. They agree this is the best decision. Don't worry, the screenshot isn't what it looks like.

Posted by Paranda at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)

Lovedol episode 3

Boy these posts just keep getting later and later don't they? Pretty soon there will be no point to do this at all since the english fansubs will have caught up to me.

Screencaps and summary follow. I'm going to try this "thumbnailing with links to full images" thing that everyone else seems to do, since the old way created unbearably long pages with lots of vertical scrolling.

Ruri, having spoken directly to the president, is now part of the team. Despite being completely ignorant of her abilities (no audition, no compatibility interviews, etc.) the members are quick to accept her for some silly reason: she had the courage to confront someone like the company president directly. They celebrate a bit before discussing their next step on how to eventually debut.

Ruri asks everyone about their ambitions. Most of them have no real goal so the answers are pretty vague. They just want to be idols through whatever means necessary. Hina's motivation has a little more substance, since she's fueled by a burning desire to be on the same stage as the "oneesama" she admires to an obsessive level. Ruri herself says she wants to help her brother by being a manager, which everyone finds a little strange. Meanwhile, Sakaki broods over the previous day's events in her large single room in downtown Tokyo that she pays for with her lucrative job playing guitar for pocket change. Tomohiro's words had a large impact on her emotions, and she is struggling over whether or not to take him up on his offer. The next day, Tomohiro and Hina meet at a cafe with Chocolat, a pair of older (fake twin?) idols that Hina highly respects.

Everyone tags along with Hina to the cafe, doing various embarassing things such as ordering the entire stock of cake, or in Miu's case, showing an inability to grasp the difference between "shitsuji" (butler) and "hitsuji" (sheep). Near the end of the conversation, Chocolat says they will be holding a "Secret Live" event later that night, and Tomohiro requests that the third generation girls come as observers. Elsewhere,, Sakaki is still thinking hard over her options and staring at Tomohiro's business card. IS SHE READY TO JOIN?

NO! TRASHED! One of Sakaki's many talents aside from singing is the ability to crumple tiny business cards into a ball almost the same size! But when it seems like she's mader her decision and all is lost, Sakaki opens the tote bag she received in episode 2 to find: tickets to the the live Chocolat concert! Waitaminute, didn't Tomohiro just find out about that concert from those girls a few minutes ago? I guess we can't let a silly thing like continuity get in the way.

Ah but disaster strikes at the concert site. Miss Super Experienced Manager, who was revealed this episode as Tomohiro's older sister (or maybe he was just saying that as a sign of respect so she wouldn't practice any more wrestling moves on him), has forgotten the maid costumes. There isn't enough time to run back and get everything ready before the concert starts, so quickly a substitute plan is hatched. The 3rd generation idols will do a bit of singing while Chocolat waits for their butler to race back and get the costumes. Surely these hardcore otaku won't notice the difference.

But they're still incomplete with only five people. Tomohiro realizes he must go out and find Sakaki. The look of determination on his face suggests he would not be above using force, however illegal, if necessary. Conveniently, Sakaki saves herself an abudction as she has also decided to come see this concert.

Without a missing a beat, the six girls are rushed on stage in front of a cynical Moe T-shirt wearing crowd to perform "LoveLoveLove no Sei na no yo," which happens to be the ending theme to this show. Impressively, the episode has a separate concert version for this scene instead of just being lazy and resampling the ED theme. The nerds react to this bait & switch with initial scorn, but warm up to the performance within moments. By the end of the song, everyone is cheering. In addition to card crumpling, another one of Sakaki's many talents is magically knowing all the words and dance moves to a song she has never heard or practiced in her life.

They manage to impress the fans so much that even after Chocolat returned with their costumes and took over, the group was invited back to meet with the audience. Sakaki is a little confused by the welcoming arms of her peers but she accepts, thereby implicitly joining the group. As they leave for the stage, Ruri sticks her head back in and cheerfully beams "Now we have six."

This episode was kind of stupid just because of all the plot holes with Sakaki. Is this supposed to be the resolution or something? We didn't find out at all what the heck was making her hate singing so much, or why she overcame it so quickly. So she had a good feeling while singing on stage with the other girls...hey, who cares if you were just randomly pulled into a performance right after being invited as an attendee right? Absolutely NO suspicions at all directed to the manager who was trying to recruit you for weeks? OK Sakaki. I suppose the upside is we now get to see the smiling Sakaki promised to us in the OP/ED instead of the moody gloomy one. It's still a shame we didn't get to see more to her personality. What was supposed to be her big turning point lasted about 2 seconds and one line of monologue from Sakunyan. Next episode is hopefully better.

Posted by Paranda at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

Lovedol episode 2

This is a bit late since I had a project due over the weekend, but I finally watched episode 2. Lovedol isn't so bad when it doesn't have 10 minute pans of pointless idol characters. I had fun this time, although there wasn't nearly enough Momoi. And surprisingly...Sakai Kanako. She has done so well in this episode and the last episode I can't help myself...I'm starting to REALLY like her voice now. I still don't recommend it yet though, unless you're a voice fan. There are plenty of better shows to waste time on, such as Kanon or Deathnote or hell, even Happiness! (Yui-nyan ahhhhh).

Anyway, Lovedol is now being subbed by a group called WinD. They've done a pretty good job on the first episode, so that is a good option if you ever feel like you need to shorten your life a little by watching this show.

Screencaps and summary follows:

Episode 2 starts off with Tomohiro agonizing over Mizuki's rejection of his idol offer. Well what's the logical thing to do when the talent you're trying to scout ignores you? Follow her around and take photos of her of course. Stalking is a form of flattery you know. Ruri is keeping him company yet somehow unaware of how creepy this is. I have to mention her though, because usually I'm not a big fan of this kind of character, yet I can't help liking her a lot. It must be Sakai Kanako. She has really been impressing me with her role in this show now. She steals every scene she's in, which I'd say is pretty good for a newbie like her when going against the rest of this cast.

Although he is getting frustrated with his constant failures, whenever he watches the idols pratice so hard yet remain unable to debut, the guilt of his inability reinvigorates his will to pursue Mizuki.

Naturally, this leads to more tension. There are some songs sung by Mizuki again...very nice songs. Nogawa is a strong singer, and has been the only one with the opportunity to show this off so far.

Although Mizuki tries to ignore Tomohiro at first, he stalks her everywhere. Mizuki gets fed up with the unwanted attention and she finally speaks back to him with some harsh words. It turns out she doesn't think too highly of the idol business. Even though Tomohiro claims he wants to show her music to the world, she believes the recording industry is motivated only by greed and just wants to sell CDs and make money.

Tomohiro can't take a hint. He still follows her around. How does he get away with this? ARREST THAT MAN OFFICER!

Now even the ever-tolerant Ruri is worried about his obsessive behavior.

Tomohiro realizes he probably isn't going to make any progress doing what he's doing, so he calls in a friend for guidance.

It turns out this friend is actually Yuuki Touko (Kuwatani Natsuko) in disguise. Touko is a successful idol that he used to manage. Although she is pretty famous now, it seems she still remembers Tomohiro very fondly and is flattered that he called her for a meeting.

Meanwhile, the idol-eggs, having also sensed Tomohiro's distress in the past few days, decide they should take things into their own hands. They hatch a plan in the shower to make friends with Mizuki so that she might join them more easily.

But they each fail just as miserably. Not one of them has ever heard of the art of subtlety it seems. There is a fun scene here where Minorin shows her wilder voice as she forgets her primary mission and just rants on about her oneesama.

In the end, they get caught by Tomohiro and abort the plan. Touko is a little disappointed when she finds out Tomohiro only met with her because he wants to hear her opinion on Mizuki (it seems like she likes him very much and was hoping for the reason to be a bit more scandalous). She recalls her own start as an idol. Although her mother was also an idol, Tomohiro did not become her manager for this reason. He felt she had conveyed her own sense of personality and he wanted to help her prove she was her own person - a legitimate idol not just because her mother was an idol. Through this discussion, Tomohiro realizes he was looking at Mizuki's situation a little too naively. Mizuki claimed she hated singing, but she also had something hidden she badly wanted to show through her singing. She wanted to be heard.

Before they can discuss any further, Touko's current manager barges in, breaks up the meeting, and shoos everyone home. When asked how she discovered their location, she responds that she keeps very close tabs on Touko and knows her movements at all times. Looks like Touko is kept on a leash by that woman. Before leaving, Touko tells Tomohiro again that he can call her for a favor at any time.

Armed with a new outlook, Tomohiro tries again to talk to Mizuki. Only this time, instead of trying to recruit her, he tells a story about himself and how he was tricked into being a manager by his sister. Yet after it was too late, he realized he did not regret it one bit. hile he had no talent himself, he could bring out the talent of others and share it with the world. From the looks of it, he has many many successes in this regard.

Tomohiro says he's not just interested in signing her to a label. He became a manager because he really wants to help people, and this time he wants to help her. He knows through her singing that she has a hatred in her heart, and while he doesn't know what it is, he wants to help share her burden and get rid of this so she can sing without it.

This time, Mizuki actually smiles. She says Tomohiro is an interesting person, and the first manager to act differently from the others. Step one has been completed. Later at the studio, the president announces a new addition to the third generation group. Everyone thinks perhaps it is Mizuki...

but surprise, it's RURI! Ahhh...I love Ruri.

And that's the end of episode 2. I'm going to mention something that I hadn't yet realized back when I wrote the summary for episode 1: Nakahara Mai's singing in this is ridiculously good, possibly even beating out Nogawa. That's how good it is. This is especially surprising to me because Mai-tan's singing has been okayish for most other releases. Her last full length album was kind of a disappointment, and especially more of a disappointment now that I've heard her short solo in this. I previously only ordered Momoi's Lovedol character CD, but damn if Mai is going to sound like this I might have to get her's also.

Posted by Paranda at 7:03 PM

Lovedol episode 1

Oh yes, it's finally out. And yes it's pretty bad. Luckily, I've insulated myself by lowering my standards specifically for this show, and now that I'm done putting myself at the mercy of episode one, I'll pre-emptively say that despite its horrible animation budget and disappointing start, the show may prove to be "watchable" at the very least. However, my specific recommendation: skip episode one and just read this summary. I'll let you know when it's safe to come out.

Next, screencaps and commentary:

It is immediately obvious that the animation for this series is incredibly low budget. As you may have read on seiyuu3, they did indeed reuse animation for the opening scene, and it's so horribly obvious in length and execution that anyone would have noticed it. It's a bad way to start a series, but let's face it..nobody who's watching this thing wasn't already planning to watch it solely for voice acting from the start. When you bill it under a cast like this, the need for making a good first impression on animation quality goes out the window. Still, I wish they had gone the route of some shows by simply discarding the opening for the first episode altogether until they could scramble enough scenes together to make a clip-based opener fused with what they had here. Oh well, at least what little was animated was kind of cute and..um...the lack of any sort of moving background means it's potentially good gif material? No probably not.

By the way, the OP theme by Nogawa Sakura is disappointing. I have no complaints with her singing itself and the tune is fairly catchy, but it's overly simple, as if the composer threw all the notes together on a pad in under five minutes and then hired a student arranger. I suppose I was hoping for something of perhaps.."Motto" quality? This sure ain't Magikano.

Anyway, it only gets worse, not better. The first ten minutes of the show actually consists of 90% still images slowly panned from left to right behind a "digitize" filter and laboriously introduces us to each of the twelve pre-existing idols. Yes, you will slowly pan through three or four images of every single girl shown on stage here. Considering the show isn't even about them, the amount of time dedicated to doing this is absurd. Interestingly, the song they sang here in my opinion was actually better than the OP. Sadly, there wasn't nearly enough of it to offset the sheer boringness of waiting the scene out.

After that mighty test of patience, one of the idols Yui (voiced by Nogawa) announces to the fans that she has some important news...

The debut of four new idols, in order of appearance

GOTO YUKO! Oops, I mean Nekoya Miu. She likes making cat sounds and pawing. Goto's voice here is pretty good.

MOMOI HALKO!!! er...Nonomiya Mai. She has way too few lines to get any sort of analysis going on yet, but I must do my duty as a Momoist and use what I can. She sounds a little stiff, but I think that is intentional. Mai seems like a cynical character who makes blunt observations. will be interesting hearing Momoi play a stoic role like this. Her episode will come...and I can't wait.

CHIHARA MINORI! Um...Hojo Hina. Boy she sure is quiet. Minorin is using her soft voice.

NAKAHARA MAI! No, Kiryu Kotoha, another quiet girl. Mai-tan sounds pretty standard here but that's ok, I love her voice in any state.

So what's the announcement? Well girls, your big debut has just been postponed :V

The manager, who also organized the last 2 generations of idols for his company Sweetfish Productions, realizes he just got screwed and hurries to demand an explanation from the president. Apparently she feels the idol group is still lacking something, but, in a typical "I'm much better than you" fashion, allows him to go figure that part out himself.

Of course, manager Fujisawa Tomohiro here has absolutely no idea what it is. The president has conveniently sped away in her black car to let him alone crush the dreams of his lovely idols.

The next day, Tomohiro thinks about the president's words before he is interrupted by his little sister Ruri (voice by Sakai Kanako). Ruri is quite a cheerful personality, and Sakai Kanako is surprisingly good at bringing this out. I liked her so much, this scene was actually fun to watch. Some people have applied the "oniichan complex" to her but I don't think that's the case based on what I've seen. Acually Minorin's character Hina is probably one with the oneesama complex.

Ruri ventures an insightful guess that since all the past generations of idols had six people, the third generation still needs to find two more girls before it can be considered complete. Tomohiro dismisses this theory, but Ruri, always looking out for her big brother, secretly heads out to the agency to meet with the president later presumably to sign up as the fifth person.

After meeting with his idols for the day at practice, while heading home from the studio Tomohiro sees a girl (Sakaki Mizuki, voiced also by Nogawa) walking by while humming to herself. She sets up shop on a street corner and sings some more. Nogawa performs both tunes pretty well, and this is when I realize happily there is probably going to be a lot of singing in this show. After she's finished, Tomohiro in a decidely creepy stalkerish way, follows her into a park and confronts her. He says she has potential and asks if she would like to sign under his company. Little did he know, Sakaki is very EMO and has issues.

"I hate singing." Offer refused.

And there's our cliffhanger. Six girls who will become the next generation of Lovedols. So...pretty bad right? Well here's what made up for the whole damn episode:

No I don't mean "the ending" as in "har har, it's over." THIS should have been the OP dammit. The theme is catchy as hell, and there was actually some animation going on. Someone must have gotten them switched up! It makes me happy that this is the song they've chosen to cover on all of the character CDs. No wonder. If you missed the link to the OP, here it is again, it also contains the ED so you can compare. http://www.avexmovie.jp/lineup/lovedol/song.html

Next episode previews has a pretty nice sounding line from Momoi, but it looks like there may be some fan service which is good or bad depending on your viewpoint.

Final Impressions: Episode 1 is junk, but as a series, it has potential to go somewhere. Maybe nowhere high, but probably on the level of an average anime based on an erogame or something similar. I've definitely seen better, but I've also seen worse. Plus if you're into these particular seiyuu, you'll probably at least enjoy it for the songs they seem to throw in randomly. That's our security blanket we can use when/if this show crashes and burns (then again it is possible to just wait for the character CDs to come out without watching the show). I wouldn't admit to watching it in real life that's for sure.

Posted by Paranda at 6:29 AM | Comments (2)

What a surprise, Lovedol is bad (DAMMIT)

Initial reviews of Lovedol have started coming in from various places after Enterbrain sponsored a screening event 3 days ago. Not surprisingly, reactions to the first episode were largely negative with asopaso describing it as horribly disappointing and seiyuu3 calling it "cringe inducing." Reactions to the live event itself however were mostly positive. A series whose primary substance is in actress events? If this show isn't a textbook definition of seiyuu vehicle, I don't know what is. Still, I had been naively hoping it would somehow be good, just because the permanent scars from Eiken serve as a reminder to me of what can happen when trying to endure torture for mere voice acting. Those hopes were significantly diminished, so come October 2nd, it's time to buckle down and take my pills.

According to asopaso, Momoi, as usual in her efforts to be insane, thought it was a good idea to cosplay as Nonomiya Mai. Based on the image (from ATV, see also "Moe wa Rock da") I think she was the only one in cosplay that day. Perhaps this was among the factors that contributed to seiyuu3's analysis that Momoi seemed to not fit in with the others, although I believe I have read elsewhere that Momoi and Nogawa are quite good friends, plus everyone there with the exception of Minorin and Goto (I'm not going to call her Gotu-za sama because it looks really retarded to actually write it out in romanji) worked together on Magikano less than a year before. So I'd probably just attribute her aloofness, if not imaginary, to her being incredibly burned out by other promotions lately.

Interestingly, more than once on the internet, Goto Yuko was called out for being especially witty at this event. Goto struck me as being pretty good at this sort of thing ever since she recorded that fan video for the Shuffle event, so now I really want to see what she said here. Another nice discovery on the net was that Kuwatani Natsuko and Kugimiya Rie were members of the second generation Lovedol. Suddenly I have a strong interest in digging for it.

Posted by Paranda at 12:17 PM | Comments (1)

Yuki Nyan Dance

Doing some Yuki-inspired pixel animation because it's been way too long since I did any art. Minori's character seems like a good subject to do any sort of fan art on, and considering Harenchi Punch's PV just came out...well it all falls into place.

Here's the first frame so far of what will be Yuki doing a part of the Neko Nyan Dance.

This took a bit more work than expected, but I'm determined to finish... I've already drawn some basic sketches for the major frames, although they will be altered heavily during the pixel animation process for consistency. Final animation will look something like this, but more fluid:

Posted by Paranda at 11:31 PM | Comments (3)

Updated Seiyuu Standings for Fall

To help determine what's worth watching for the fall season, I've updated listings of my favorite (read: COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE. NO OBJECTIVE RANKING SYSTEM WHATSOEVER) VAs after taking Spring/Summer 2006 series into account. Big gainers are Nazuka Kaori for the final episodes of Eureka 7, Chihara Minori for Yuki character songs, Sakakibara Yui for MUSIC in my Heart, and Tamura Yukari (unseating Ohtani Ikue as #2 for the first time EVER) due to Cutie Cutie Concert 2005 DVD release.

Posted by Paranda at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

Ayako Kawasumi announced as guest at Otakon 06

I now have a real good reason to go. A tier 1 seiyuu! Commence fanboy wanking...

As she is Navy-san. Fucking NAVY-SAN!

Oh and Mahoro, Saber, Yoshida, Ohno, and Sayuri and a bunch of other roles which were all good. We shall conveniently forget about the few shit ones because she is just that awesome to qualify for infinite pardons no matter how terrible the series.

Posted by Paranda at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)

Not human I tell you

Also, an interesting tidbit I read somewhere that I can't remember...according to a poll, 81% of Higurashi's viewers are male.

Posted by Paranda at 11:52 PM

Halfway through the 2 weeks of doom

This has been the worst week in recent memory, with another bad week to follow. I am not adequately prepared for my next tests, and I'm already way behind my anime watching schedule with probably 0% chance of catching up until May at this rate.

Plus I've just added the following shows from the new season to my lineup:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Nana
Utawarerumono
Strawberry Panic
Simoun
Disgaea
Air Gear
School Rumble, season 2
Ah My Goddess, season 2
Aria, season 2

Typically, I drop 30% of shows on the first episode, but in addition to ongoing series I am already watching which have not finished, even if I drop a majority, this season is looking to set the record for the most I have ever watched at the same time. I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

Also, I am not happy with Canvas 2's ending. Sure I switched my allegiance to Elise but that swerve made absolutely no sense, and the full creepiness of the cousin relationship hit once again at the end with what actions were implied. Ugh.

Posted by Paranda at 1:23 PM | Comments (1)

Suddenly, I realize I have migrated to the Elise camp.

HOW ON EARTH DID THIS HAPPEN? I THOUGHT I WAS PRO KIRI!?!?!? I DON'T UNDERSTAND MYSELF!

edit: post-2hour-calm-down-period-analysis: Color me shocked - Canvas 2, the series based on a goddamn porno game, has surprisingly good character development. I have actually turned against Kiri - her behavior these past few episodes has been childish and at times downright disgusting. She's really self-serving actually. And this wasn't a sudden turn that goes against all she's done previously either, in fact it was more like a bit by bit revelation that puts all of her actions in the past into a new perspective. Kiri is absolutely terrible and definitely the kind of girl who would charm her prey with her feminine wiles but pull a nasty 180 once she's enslaved him through marriage. If Hiroki goes this route, he's going to regret it at age 30. Elise on the other hand, has matured considerably since the first half of the series and is showing more aspects of her personality and worries. I think I can overlook this cousin incest now because she's really the better person when it comes down to it. Heck at this point, I'd rather have Kana win than Kiri.

Posted by Paranda at 3:45 AM | Comments (0)

Magikano just got better with 100% more Halko

The funniest anime airing right now just got even better, with episode 5's introduction of Witch Hunter Marin Nijihara, voiced by Haruko Momoi (many thanks to cortana paging me on SA, or I would have missed this awesome series). Halko is still sharp as a tack. Here is a breakdown of her character and debut episode:

Marin, an agent of the vatican, is the retarded version of Ciel.

She hunts witches with her Holy Spear.

But she's an an adorable doofus who can't do anything right.

She employs unconventional tactics to exploit the enemy's weakness.

But often it just leads to more absurdity.

A misunderstanding leads Marin to believe that our male protagonist Haruo is actually a Saint, and that her purpose on earth is to serve him.

Of course, Maika is very hostile to any competition for her brother's affection.

Hilarious antics ensue as a race breaks out over who's lunch Haruo must eat.

A shrinking magic spell is unwittingly unleashed on all members involved, but OF COURSE it doesn't affect the clothes. Also at this point, Sakura Nogawa starts doing her Hina Ichigo voice to match her shrunk down character - and that's seriously cute.

As Marin gets smaller, her resemblance to Popotan's Mii becomes glaringly obvious.

Mii-tan, I mean Marin wins the race to deliver her lunch first!

OH.. MY.. GOD! IMAGINE THIS FACE WITH HALKO VOICE AMPLIFYING THE CUTENESS! CAN A MAN SURVIVE THIS?

Finally, everyone returns to normal, except now they're all in their underwear. So yeah, you get the idea...Halko doing ridiculously cheesy roles for a crazy humor show? That's just like her - and damn this is a good series. Even before she shows up I had laugh out loud moments..but now after episode 5 it's sheer heaven to watch this. Get it!

Posted by Paranda at 5:19 AM | Comments (2)

I don't rank anime, I rank seiyuu

If you tend to watch more anime than is considered acceptable by society in general, you have probably created your own lists ranking your favorite shows. Similarly, I do the same thing, except with seiyuu. You could say I have more interest in voices than production quality when any given show is aired.

Today, I finished reviewing all the 2005 anime series that I planned to watch. Now I can post updated seiyuu rankings factoring in the new performances last year. These are descending order of quality. Keep in my that these are highly subjective, and I use a variety of arbitrary ranking criteria (see the excel spreadsheet if you are curious). Also note that being on the bottom of this list does not indicate poor performance, since I am after all ranking BEST 30 out of all voice actors I have heard. Names that are bolded did outstandingly well this year and will probably deserve some sort of additional feature writeup at a later time.

The list - top 30 female seiyuu, year end 2005:

01. Momoi Haruko
02. Ohtani Ikue
03. Kawasumi Ayako
04. Orikasa Fumiko
05. Inoue Kikuko
06. Itou Miki
07. Horie Yui
08. Nabatame Hitomi
09. Hisakawa Aya
10. Itou Shizuka
11. Koyama Kimiko
12. Tamura Yukari
13. Nogawa Sakura
14. Kugimiya Rie
15. Matsuoka Yuki
16. Mizuki Nana
17. Kawakami Tomoko
18. Minami Omi
19. Tokunaga Ai
20. Saito Chiwa
21. Yukino Satsuki
22. Nonaka Ai
23. Shimizu Ai
24. Kadowaki Mai
25. Arai Satomi
26. Ohara Sayaka
27. Hirohashi Ryou
28. Noda Junko
29. Kurata Masayo
30. Tanaka Rie

Posted by Paranda at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)

Binchotan is a show in which nothing happens

The first episode of Binchotan came out today. It was not what I expected at all. Think ARIA on depressants.. if ARIA put people to sleep, Binchotan will cause 30 year comas. In any case, it looks sort of interesting just because it's weird and cute. Screenshots below.

Meet Binchotan, a tiny girl who lives all alone in the mountains.
She's wears some sort of a charcoal brick on her head. Why, I'm not sure.
In this episode, Binchotan crosses a lake. Ahhhh she's riding a duck! CUTE!!!.
Aha. She wants to gather some grasses on the other side.
Oh so the herbs were for cooking! But Binchotan is tired after a day of hiking, so it's time for a nap
A good humble meal. Eat up Binchotan, tomorrow is another big day..involving fish strapped to air sails?

Episode summary? I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT HAPPENED BUT THAT WAS AWESOME.

Posted by Paranda at 8:37 PM | Comments (3)

ARIA is the best anime on TV right now.

After episode 12, I feel as if Aria would fit perfectly as the product of a future government's propaganda attempting to lure settlers to Mars and enslave them as laborers for the terraformation movement - because it's just that damn good. We viewers are used to sci-fi plots about utopian societies with dark sides, gone horribly wrong. Then there's Aria, which is just one big happy utopian society gone..well..incredibly right. So why not come to Aqua and spend your life building bridges or something for the advancement of humanity? I know I would.

Posted by Paranda at 12:53 AM | Comments (0)

Latest impressions on current shows

Here are some various musings on things that I am watching: Some of this stuff has already been out for a while, but I only got around to seeing it this week. This is because the new semester started Tuesday and I magically seem to have MORE free time during the weeks when I have classes than when I don't.

I think it's some sort of strange psychological issue, in which I make better use of my personal time and get more shows watched when it's perceived as more rare, in contrast to wasting large amounts of idle time during my vacation sitting and staring at walls.

Before I start, I would just like to wish luck to Ikue Ohtani who is now reported as pregnant, not sick (misunderstanding on ANN's part). Imagine having Pikachu as your mom. And..that kid better be ubercute to compete with that.

Now--

Rozen Maiden Traumend - We are nearing the end with episode 10. GODDAMMIT HINA ICHIGO! YOU WERE LIKE A DAUGHTER TO ME! WHYYYYY?? Tearjerker level: high. Do not watch in company of others if wanting to be perceived as tough guy.

Shakugan no Shana - Episode 14: Hey I was cheated out of a KOTOKO opening. What happened to that? Maybe next episode. Also, Wilhelmina is awesome and needs to go berserk so we can see her destroy Tomogara like she was meant to..on a "ripping arms out of sockets and beating lifeless bodies with their limbs" scale, like Eva.

Yakitate! Japan - Episode 52: One of the best reactions ever. Having read the manga, I knew it was coming and I was still blown away. Pierrot is just so great, HE WENT BACK IN TIME AND ALTERED THE COURSE OF HISTORY BECAUSE HE ATE A FRIED DONUT! Ridiculous moments like these make the show worth watching.

Aria: 11 is the best episode so far, now with a direct acknowledgement that yes, Akari, Aika, and Alice are the next Alicia, Akira, and Athena. Ah, the continuation of a legacy..watching Aria is therapeutic.

Fate Stay Night - Episode 2: There is a surprising lack of action unfortunately, with most fighting consisting of closeup shots of people charging at eachother. Having played the demo translated by the folks at insani.org, I was hoping the show would capture the pure intensity of the Archer vs. Lancer battle described. Instead it was reduced to a very minor thing. Still, I am mostly satisfied with the way it is being handled, and the show continues to capture my interest. There is also top notch voice acting, and some creative dialogue (although this may or may not be credited to Eclipse's subbing).

Canvas 2 - Episode 14: Kiri is a ho; switching alliance to Elise. Sorry Hitomi. :( Actually I shouldn't joke about this because it might happen. I just have misplaced anger. It's really because of that new guy. He seriously needs to get his knees busted and thrown in a river. Fessing up to previous crimes and then leaving does not fulfill my bloodlust. Redemption is too cheap, I want to see some cold blooded revenge here. Art stealing is BAD okay?

Shuffle - Final episode - An excellent ending to a series that completely surpassed my expectations as far as harem genre goes. Also one of the few times where I correctly called the winning girl. Yay Asa. Now if they'll just make a sequel featuring Primula, who has grown on me in these last few episodes.

To Heart 2 - Episode 5: Karin Sasamori is now my second favorite character in this series, because of the Tamago Sandwich song.

Viewing schedule for Tomorrow:
Yesterday's episode of Smallville - not anime.
Fate Stay Night 3 (hopefully if it's subbed by then)
Ah My Goddess 25 & 26.
Tonight's WWE Smackdown (only because Angle signed on) - not anime.

Posted by Paranda at 10:57 AM

Fate-Stay Night Episode 1

Watched this over the weekend thanks to Eclipse's ridiculously fast subbing efforts. There have been some mixed reactions by various people on the net (possibly due to hyped up expectations) about the slowness of the first episode, but I can say I solidly enjoyed it. Like Tsukihime, Type-Moon always gives their main protagonist cool as hell unique powers. For Shiki, "being able to see and cut the strands of existence" was one of the neatest and most original concepts I had personally seen in anime, and it was executed excellently. In Fate, Shirou has the power to mentally map the complete internal structure of any item he touches. That also has a lot of potential for a lot of coolness as well. I agree Taiga-sensei's antics feel slightly out of place in this mostly serious backstory episode, but I think the biggest negative reaction was due to the fact that everyone simply expected Saber, Lancer, Archer, Beserker, Rider, and Caster to pop up out of nowhere and kill the shit out of eachother right away for an action packed bloodfest in episode one. I'd say that's being a bit impatient. Fate WILL get to the good parts soon..and by soon I mean the next episode if you realized to watch the next-episode previews.

Posted by Paranda at 8:14 PM | Comments (0)

Kiri fanboy support group

With Canvas 2 fans firmly divided into the Elise vs. Kiri camps, and a few fringe individuals in the Tomoko and Hagino factions, I must reaffirm my pro-Kiri loyalties and proceed to gloat over this latest victory in episode 8. Kiri x Hiroki seems almost ready to go at the moment, and Elise is thankfully being harassed by some random Shouta-kun who popped out of nowhere.

Still, having things develop so early on is both a blessing and a curse, as with 16 episodes left, this issue couldn't possibly be resolved so soon. Any amount of disasters could and likely will happen. My greatest fear is that Kiri success in the first half means definite crash & burn failure in the second. I refuse to allow this.

Heart skipping right about now..

Ohhhhh shiiiiittt...Kiri going for the kill.

THE SUSPENSE. EPISODE 9 NOW!!! HIROKI MANHOOD ON THE LINE..

Posted by Paranda at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

Fate/Stay Night Curtain Raiser

So this came out yesterday and a copy has already been circulating around on the internet. I just watched it now, and I am pumped with anticipation..so much that I ordered this and this right after.

To stir up the crazy fanboy in me, the trailer contained many animated shots taken straight from the game including my one of my favorites..

Small caps from the DVD below:

Posted by Paranda at 12:19 AM

Rozen Maiden ~traumend~

I finally watched Rozen Maiden like I said I would, and now I'm moving on to season two and enjoying it immensely.

Hina Ichigo is an adorable darling:

Posted by Paranda at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)

Canvas 2 is annoying

Why is it annoying? Because it could be a great cutesy "everybody falls in love with the protagonist" mindless feel-good anime based on a dating game were it not for Elise. Worst character ever!

A staple of formulaic cutesy anime has been the imouto complex, and boy does it piss me off. If I hear the word oniichan again I am going to throw up. Recently there are two branches of this complex that have been catered to in animation: Bend-over-backwards cutesy or spine-shudderingly creepy. The first type is what I will think is the ideal imouto complex, and I actually don't mind it too much when executed properly. It can be pretty heartwarming like Aishiteruze Baby or evoke intense emotions of care such as Grave of the Fireflies. Unfortunately, Canvas 2 deals with the second branch, and it is almost enough to ruin the show entirely. Technically Elise is not really the main character's sister, but his cousin. But that doesn't stop the oniichan verbal assault, arm hugging, and various other clingy shit. Please Elise, do not exploit the blood relationship with your cousin to further your romantic relationship with him. I hate this. Elise is so bad, she managed to destroy my love for the woman who voiced Chiriri!

Childhood friends on the other hand...I love that cliche. If Kamikura doesn't end up going after Kiri and falls into the incest trap I will be VERY DISAPPOINTED. Come on man she has only been in love with you since forever!?

Posted by Paranda at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

To Heart 2

I am going to watch this because I watch shitty uninspired anime based off gal games and like it. Or, I am going to watch this because the PS2 OP is awesome.

Or, I should really be studying for my accounting midterm that I have in 15 minutes.

Posted by Paranda at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)

Komugi is done.

Ugh two obituaries this week. Well this one is a little late, but I didn't check until today. This is because after watching Komugi Z episode 2, I had an uneasy feeling. That is...too much stuff happened. Closure stuff. It felt like a series finale. Sadly I was right.

Halko has confirmed that the Komugi series is done. Finished. There will be no more Komugi OVA, radio dramas, anything. She had fun with the series, and is now moving on. She also wrote about it on October 7th in momoi.com but I didn't want to believe it.

Thanks for the good time.

Posted by Paranda at 12:58 AM | Comments (0)

Komugi Z needs to be subbed!

Since absolutely nobody in the world appears to be subbing Komugi Z, I decided to just cave in and watch the raw. They went to town on this one. Pokes fun at everything from fanboys to virus video games. There was also a hilarious gattai scene with copyrighted characters that were cleverly censored.

I for one am glad to see this OVA picking up the pace again to match the hilarity of the original Komugi series after a somewhat dull first episode. More screens below.

Hahaha, signing the shirt for a putrid otaku. Who then sniffs her signature.

What a horrible feeling to be an idol. The look of disgust is perfect.
Komugi does what she can to please the fans. Here she is catering to the masochists.


Some more screens. Koyori unleashes virus on unsuspecting computer users. Oh look, it's Dokuro-chan!

Komugi's secret identity is revealed to Kyosuke.

The humor in the second screenshot is lost in image form.
Combine!

I cannot stress the awesomeness of how Komugi defeats the Puyopuyo virii.
Bona-su pointo.

Posted by Paranda at 1:34 AM | Comments (4)

Aria 1

Aria the animation has started airing in Japan. It is based on the manga created by Kozue Amano about a native Earth girl, Akari, who is starting a new life on Mars as a gondolier. Aria is one of my favorite manga, because it is just so laid back and all about enjoying new experiences. It also reads a lot like a travel guide for famous or unique areas in the world today. I am looking forward to seeing this show and how the directors can translate the calm and peaceful feeling of the manga to animation. I wonder if they'll keep all the cute super-deform moments.

Chiwa Saito and Tomoko Kawakami are also good reasons to watch this show.

Official Aria Website

Posted by Paranda at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

Komugi Z volume 2 now out

Yay. Random Momoi-Komugi cosplay picture party!



This is a good week.

Posted by Paranda at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

TSUKUNE-CHANNNNNNNN

Because I just watched it, and I felt like making this gif.

Also, Momoi-san is getting lazy because Tsukune-chan sounds way too old at times. Compare with her Mii voicework in Popotan.

Posted by Paranda at 11:07 PM

Majokko Tsukune-chan Vol.1 out

Well there's some good news today.

First things first: Majokko Tsukune-chan, volume 1 of an intended 6, is now on sale. The magical girl gag OVA from XEBEC, directed by Hiro Sakurai, stars our favorite voice actress in the leading role: Cute little Tsukune-chan. Story synopsis pending.

Momoi is also involved in the creation of the OVA's ending theme, hilariously titled "Frying Machine." You may download the mp3 here. Fellow Halko fan Longhorn has a nice promotional PV up on his site, so you may want to check that out.

Read more about this series and others at Starchild's website

Second bit of good news: The Bottle Fairy PC game, which we all heard about way back in March 2004, is finally announced to be released on September 9th, 2005. In this game, you basically play the role of sensei-san and bring the fairies with you on your shoulder/in your bag/up your ass while you work on daily mundane things and go places. Before you lose all faith in humanity, let me remind you it is NOT an H-game so there is no need to weep in the corner at the thought of your beloved Chiriri/Hororo being violated with Q-tips or anything like that. Heh. Too bad it costs a fucking fortune, and there is not one mention of Tama-chan in the game details. We can only hope.

Posted by Paranda at 1:26 PM | Comments (0)

A pointless list.

In an exercise of complete pointlessness, until my next Halko update..I am compiling a list of anime I have seen and need to see in the future. This list does not include movies.

I don't know why I made this. Nobody should really care about what I have watched, but I'm bored at work so here goes...

Badly Need to Watch:
1. Full Moon wo Sagashite
2. Fruits Basket
3. Mai HiME
4. Rozen Maiden
5. Cowboy Bebop (DOES THIS SURPRISE YOU THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN IT? BUT I KNOW SPIKE DIES!)
6. Last Exile
7. Hajime no Ippo

Kind of want to watch but not really willing to waste the time:
1. To Heart
2. Da Capo
3. Scrapped Princess
4. R.O.D. TV
5. Kokoro Library

Currently Watching:
1. Sousei no Aquarion (Not that great: feels way too much like an Eva knockoff. The robots and fights are cool as hell though.)
2. Gokujou Seitokai (I am laughing.)
3. Honey and Clover (So far so good.)
4. He is My Master (I enjoy torturing myself, so this will be my instrument of torture for this season.)
5. Kamichu! (Interesting.)
6. Ichigo Mashimaro (ADTRW is a bad influence. I should not be watching this.)
7. Yakitate! Japan (Absolutely hilarious. Still funny even though I already read the manga)
8. Damekko Doubutsu (I enjoy weird/cute shows, and this is weird AND cute.)
9. Galaxy Angel (Multiple seasons. Ongoing)
10. Gundam SEED (I just started.)
11. Kingyou Chuuihou (The episodes are coming out slowly , but I will definitely finish this.)

In Limbo:
1. Tsukuyomi (Stuck on episode 8 from Sugar-Cube. Oh god is it so hard to sub this? Somebody please finishs subbing so I can get on with it. Don't make me jump ship to mahou.)
2. Sensei no Ojikan (See above. Both groups stopped subbing, what the hell?)
3. Slam Dunk(Watched 8 episodes. I am still trying to get the rest of it.)
4. Akahori Gedou Hour Love-Game (Watched one episode for Momoi. I probably would watch more if I could find episodes.)
5. Ichigeki Sacchu! Hoihoi-san (Does anybody know what happened to this?)
6. Onegai My Melody No idea what happeend to this either.

Aborted:
1. Pretty Cure (Aborted on episode 3. This show sucks.)
2. Bobobo Bobobobo (Aborted on episode 4. They are trying waayyy too hard to be ZANY and WACKY. LOL!!1!1)
3. Kiddy Grade (Episode 2.)
4. Tenchi Muyo (Episode 4. I tried to like this. I really did.)
5. Marimite (Episode 3. Too boring.)
6. Di Gi Charat Nyo (Episode 1. Let's not tarnish the awesome memory of the original Di Gi Charat ok? Also, I don't like Piyoko.)
7. Tekkaman (Tried a few episodes. No major flaws, but it's nothing special and I just don't have the willpower to watch a long show like this unless I see a point to it.)

Finished (in reverse chronological order):
1. Mahoraba Heartful Days (This is so fucking good. Watch this, please.)
2. Ah! My Goddess TV (I enjoyed it. Not for everyone. Mostly watched this for Ikue Ohtani.)
2. Victorian Romance Emma (Not bad. Eleanor got shafted though so I feel bad.)
3. Haibane Renmei (Oh, Reki.)
4. Tsukihime (Oh, Arcueid.)
5. Genshiken (with Kujibiki Unbalance) (This is a very interesting series about otaku life. Also, based on the 3 OVAs..I wish Kujian was real.)
6. 2x2=Shinobuden (Kind of funny but ultimately a waste of time.)
7. DearS (Watched for Love Slave and melon bread. Ren is kind of cute but the slave complex is too creepy.)
8. Ragnarok Online (Watched for Maya)
9. Samurai Seven (It definitly doesn't do justice to the film, but hey it's watchable.)
10. Gokusen (I like this. Very amusing.)
11. Yumeria (My tradition of watching shows based on bishi-games must be upheld. Thankfully, this one was not so bad)
12. Hand Maid May (Cute.)
13. Stellva of the Universe (Space-age Harry Potter. It's actually a lot of fun, and introduced me to Angela)
14. Aishiteruze Baby (One of my favorites. Yuzuyu is cute.)
15. Dogtato (Awesome. It's ALL about Croconion.)
16. Kono Minikuku Mo Utsukushii Sekai (I came in expecting this to be Mahoromatic 3, but I ended up with 'suck' instead.)
17. Dokkoider (One of my favorites. Very interesting premise.)
18. Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magikarte (Great parody. Also: Momoi, Momoi, Momoi.)
19. Bottle Fairy (This is the cutest show that has ever existed in the history of cute things. I have had several cute-induced heartattacks while watching this.)
20. Di Gi Charat
21. Onegai Twins (OMG THEY MIGHT BE RELATED, BUT THEY MIGHT NOT BE! If it weren't for the OP/ED this series would have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.)
22. Sister Princess (Sucks. Also, Horie Yui's character is really really creepy so even she couldn't save this series.)
23. Ikkitousen (Why on earth did I think watching this was a good idea?)
24. Kare Kano (I remember I did not like this while I was watching it..but somehow I seem to have good memories about it.)
25. Mahoromatic 1 & 2 (An overall great show that was ruined by the horrible GAINAX^TM ending.
26. Onegai Teacher (A nice feel-good show. Plus I discovered KOTOKO through this..)
27. Azumanga Daioh (Kagura fanboy for life. Osaka is okay too, but nothing can compete with swimsuit tan.)
28. Excel Saga (I did not find this funny. I may have been too much of an anime newbie back then to get it..but I have no intention of trying again.)
29. Popotan (Hey the actress for Mii sounds pretty cute. I also like the OP song. I wonder who she is?)
30. Chobits (I must be the one guy in the entire world who doesn't hate Chobits)
31. Love Hina (Irritating. Also, if you want to watch a story about lots of girls living with a guy in a communal house that doesn't suck, Mahoraba is the way to go.)
32. Gundam Wing (I hated this show. Being my first series, it turned me off from Gundam for years and years.)
33. Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (Made me realize Gundam might not be such a shitty series after all.)
34. Evangelion (Attractive character designs. Terrible story. The end made no sense whatsoever and Shinji is a whiny faggot.)
35. Dragon Ball Z & GT (Contrary to public opinion, I LIKE the speed 4-frame fight animations and constant disappearing/reappearing tricks. Although they may have been methods to save on animation and due to budget constraints, I think they accidentally pioneered a new field in "crazy god fighting styles." Let's not get into story. If you watch DBZ for story you are an idiot.)
36. Sailor Moon (Saw this when I was a wee boy, and when you're little..this is a great show. I also thought Tuxedo Mask was cool back then. Actually I probably still think this on the subconscious level [not gay].)

Famous series that I will probably never watch:
1. Inuyasha (I have no idea what this show is about or if it's good, but I hold a grudge against the insane "in your face" fans so I refuse to watch this out of spite.)
2. Rurouni Kenshin (I have no desire to start even though I know I should see this. But I can't force myself through this "just for the heck of it"...since it's way too long.)
3. Escaflowne (No desire to watch.)
4. Full Metal Alchemist (Too long..too huge to download..too many volumes to buy..and I don't have Cartoon Network)
5. Naruto (I am already reading the manga because catching up to the show would take FOREVER if I started now)
6. Hikaru no Go (Series was too long so I read manga instead.)
7. Ranma 1/2 (Too long. Also, Rumiko Takahashi has enough money there is no need for me to give her any more.)
8. GTO (Too long. Read manga instead.)
9. Trigun
10. Hellsing

Posted by Paranda at 10:30 AM | Comments (2)

Komugi Magikarte Z, vol. 2 confirmed

We can all breathe easy now. After many months of waiting and worst-case-scenario speculation, I see that the release date is finally announced. Volume 2 of Komugi Magikarte Z, the sequel OVA series to the successful 5.5-episode "Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magikarte," will be on sale September 22. The limited edition DVD will retail for 6090yen and contain a new episode, along with a booklet and CD as bonuses. It is possible that sneak a figure in too, considering they have done this in the past.

According to the official Komugi fansite, MugiMugi.com, the episode will be broadcasted first on AnimeTV on August 20th at midnight.

Both Komugi series, with characters taken from another popular anime called "The Soultaker," revolve around Komugi Nakahara, a young cosplay idol who is granted magical powers to transform into a fighting nurse/witch. They are complete departures from the "serious" mood of their parent anime, and instead opt for more ridiculous plot points and parodies. Episodes feature cosplay battles between Komugi, large-breasted maids, convention centers turned giant robots, 2ch ascii art, overweight anime producers gone pro-wrestling, and other similarly odd enemies. Notable voice talent include Halko Momoi (do I have to explain who she is?) as Komugi, Yuji Ueda (the guy who's in everything) as her fluffy sidekick, and Ikue Ohtani (She's Pikachu ya know?) as rival Koyori. The character designs are by Poyoyon Rock (Akio Watanabe), who had reportedly modeled Komugi specifically after Momoi.

Stateside, ADVFilms has licensed both Soultaker and Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magikarte. Magikarte Z has yet to be picked up by any company here. Hopefully we will see some news soon. Meanwhile, I will be out another 60bux ;_;

Posted by Paranda at 1:09 AM | Comments (0)

Jinx

Posted by Paranda at 9:53 AM | Comments (1)

Not all clowns are bad

Not this one at least.

The previews at the end of Yakitate 30 have my mouth watering. This is the beginning of a new story arc so I suggest if you were thinking about starting Yakitate, now is the time to do it. I personally enjoy this arc way more anyway...and all thanks to this clown.

Posted by Paranda at 9:52 AM | Comments (0)

Why does this exist?

No, seriously.
Why?

Posted by Paranda at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)

Gunslinger Girl vol. 2

So I went to B. Dalton's today and saw Gunslinger Girl volume 2 on the shelf. Finally! Finally! I'VE ONLY BEEN WAITING 2 YEARS! Goddammit when the hell did it come out? Leave it to ADV to make sure new releases never get any advertising. It doesn't even exist on their website. ADV's manga release calendar is equally useless(it hasn't been updated in 3 months). Why does such a great series get such poor treatment? Why is ADV in general so incompetent? While I am very happy about finally getting my hands on this book, I still have to complain.

ADV's translators have done a nice job on the book itself, but their publicity department, as always, has been horrible. There are already many reasons to hate ADV's publicity department, from their "What is anime" commercials to their pitifully barebones DVD releases (I need liner notes. Komugi would have been sooo much better if it was released by Bandai/Geneon) to their notoriously bad categorization of anime. The way they handled GSG's release only adds to the fire. Their site has absolutely no information on the book or the series or how many volumes. When they released volume 1, I had been expecting volume 2 to follow shortly. Nothing..so I assumed maybe they were taking their time for a quality release. 6 months later, I was worried ADV had dropped the project. They've done it in the past. But, ADV's website remained unchanged. They still listed book one and so I had hope. I kept that hope for two years. So what the hell was going on? Did they drop the series? Was there a licensing fight? Did book 2 come out? Whatever ADV knew, they didn't tell us. ADV, please learn to make a manga catalogue like Tokyopop which actually has useful information.

Thankfully, I am only a casual Gunslinger Girl fan so it hasn't affected me that much...but Yotsubato, that is another story. ADV, please do not do this to Yotsubato or I will do bad things to you..very bad things such as anonymously insult you on an internet blog.

Please? Please be good to Yotsuba.

Posted by Paranda at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)